By Tim Stannard

1) Barca expects as Coutinho faces Copa clash

If a team is going to spend upwards of $200 million on a footballer, then the player in question had better deliver from the very first moment.

That’s the burden weighing heavy on the shoulders of Philippe Coutinho as the newly-arrived Brazilian faces his third appearance in a week for Barcelona with the expectation that he comes close to matching the performance levels of Neymar and Andres Iniesta combined.

Barcelona are back in action on Thursday in the Copa del Rey and the first of a scintillating semifinal double-header with Valencia – first against third in La Liga – and the big question for Ernesto Valverde is where Coutinho is going to play on the pitch to get the best out of the former Liverpool man. “He’s versatile enough to play in a number of positions,” was the non-committal response of Valverde ahead of the game.

Valencia are not in the best shape possible for the match with a number of key absentees through injury including Goncalo Guedes and Geoffrey Kondogbia. “We are not giving this up for lost” promised the feisty Valencia coach, Marcelino.

Tune in to beIN SPORTS at 3:25PM ET / 12:25AM PT for what is set to be a humdinger of a game and head to the XTRA at 7PM / 4PM ET for all the post-match reaction.

2) Mahrez faces Foxes therapy after failed Man City move

TRANSFER TRACKER TIME!

There’s still juice to be squeezed out of the transfer tracker before it is put into the garage for the next few months.

A couple of late deals snuck through under the radar on Wednesday, including Manchester City loaning centerback, Eliaquim Mangala, to Everton and Islam Slimani heading to Newcastle United for the rest of the season, from Leicester City.

And on the topic of the still-recent Premier League winners, Thursday is going to be a little awkward on the training ground due to the presence of Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian playmaker was all of a tizz over a deadline day move to Manchester City, before the league leaders backed out due to a huge $100 million fee being demanded by Leicester for the talented talisman.

Reports now suggest that Mahrez will be on a go-slow or strike until the end of the season although City coach, Claude Puel, has said that he hopes his footballer will come back to the Foxes fold, “with a smile.” Good luck with that one.

Get the final thoughts of Andres Cordero and Matteo Bonetti on the XTRA Social on our beIN SPORTS Facebook page at 1PM ET / 10AM PT.

3) Conte faces Stamford Bridge exit after top four confession

Chelsea’s rather surprising 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Wednesday could well be the beginning of the end of Antonio Conte, an end that has lasted a good eight months, such has been the endless moaning from the Stamford Bridge bench concerning a lack of star signings.

Those complaints continued after the home defeat with Conte warning his bosses and fans that the team are in a struggle to even reach the top four. “If we are able to reach a place in the Champions League, it will be a great success for us.”

Chelsea is one of the most trigger-happy clubs in the world when it comes to jettisoning managers mid-season, and the rumors are that this could be on the cards…and exactly what Conte wants for his exit door from English football.

4) LeBron muses another madness move

Looks like the NBA is going to try to surpass the Neymar to PSG kerfuffle with reports that LeBron would consider jumping ship to the Golden State Warriors post season, if the reigning champions were able to do the required financial jiggery-pokery to afford the Cleveland Cavs legend.

King James is expected to decline his $35.6 million player option and become an unrestricted free agent. That’s going to be interesting.

beIN SPORTS is happy to bring you some fine Conference USA basketball on Thursday with the Marshall Thundering Herd at the UTSA Roadrunners. Meep meep! Tune into beIN SPORTS USA at 8PM ET / 5PM PT.

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The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. Sports Burst is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.